Photo by Alyse Horn

By Alyse Horn

Allegheny City Brewing, 507 Foreland St., is planning to officially open its doors to the public by the end of July.

“People pop their heads in asking when we’re going to be open, and we’re with you. We want to be open too,” said Al Grasso, who shares ownership of the brewery with his partner Amy Yurkovich and her brother Matt.

Amy said the trio hit some roadblocks along the way, some out of their control, but their pushing forward and “certainly  ready” to open next month.

Grasso said there will be eight taps on at the bar. Initially, the idea was to have four experimental beers and four staples, “but as we’re finding with our brew days and some small test batches, we just want to do different things and hear feedback of what people like.”

“Our intention when we started this whole venture was to be a community microbrewery,” Grasso said.

Grasso, Amy and Matt, all Pittsburgh natives, lived in Colorado for some time where small local brew pubs were a prevalent part of a town’s culture. Amy said the “whole vibe and attitude of the brewers and owners was always so welcoming.”

“We moved back with the intention to [recreate that],” Amy said.

Grasso and Matt started brewing nine years ago while living in Colorado, and really enjoy creating experimental batches and “pushing the envelope” with different styles of beer.

“We want a place that people from around the city will come check out because we want to be known for having great beer, but also a place that people on the Northside can walk to a couple times a week and drink a pint while finding out what they’re neighbors are up to,” Grasso said.

The brewery started getting its name out over a year ago with small tastings at Matt’s house, and eventually started pouring free samples at small events in the city. Amy said in the past, ACB has poured at Veg Fest, Deutschtown Bar Crawl, Northside Mardi Gras, NS Sandwich Sampler, and Penn Brewery Microbrewers Fest. They have also poured and will continue to pour once a month at Wigle Whiskey Barrelhouse, 1055 Spring Garden Ave., as part of Wigle’s Sonntag events every Sunday.

If Northsider’s taste buds can’t wait until the end of July, they are in luck. Allegheny City Brewing will open on Saturday, July 9 to host bands from 3- 11 p.m. in partnership with the Deutschtown Music Festival.

“The community has been incredible,” Amy said. “Specifically Deutschtown, but overall Northside [support].”

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